David’s story

A bright and successful future I never thought I would ever do drugs, let alone get addicted to them. I grew up in a Christian home with good parents and a supportive family. I was always a keen sportsman – playing soccer every Saturday throughout my childhood and teenage years. I was constantly training and…

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Jesse’s story

Prison or rehab I grew up in a poor household with my four other siblings, my father and my mother. My childhood was full of child abuse and hatred for each other. At the age of four, I was spending my days on the doorsteps of the pokies. There was never any food in the…

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Gary’s story

Fitter and stronger in Christ I am completing the Teen Challenge SA program for the second time here at Strathalbyn in 2022. The first time was in 2007 in Elizabeth, 15 years ago. When I completed the program for the first time, it was wonderful. I learnt much about myself and life, but it was…

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A father’s heart

Kingsley is the father of Oscar, one of the participants of our Living Free program. Together, they recently celebrated Oscar’s baptism, which Kingsley says was a dramatic change from the ‘toughest, roughest days of hell [they] endured over the previous decade’. I had the privilege of raising Oscar as a single father. Our family loved…

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Jordan’s story

FROM DEATH TO LIFE I don’t have much in the way of people, concepts or situations to blame for why I was the way I was. I grew up with a loving family who left me wanting for nothing. I had a couple of brothers who only wanted the best for me, grandparents who would…

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Aaron’s story

A time to let go I always knew there was something better than what I had going for me. I just didn’t really understand how to step towards that better side of life. For me, the number of times I went around that mountain without actually taking a step upwards in the right direction is…

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Will’s story

God had other plans My journey to Christ is a little different from many others. I first discovered that God was real when I found myself angry with him. I grew up in a standard family – a mum, a dad and an older brother. There was a Christian foundation in our family values. We…

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Leith’s story

‘My relationship with my children is being restored.’ I am a 46-year-old gentleman with dreams, hopes, health and a purpose in life. Of course, it wasn’t always this way. Not so long ago, I was a deadbeat dad. I was unemployable, and I was a raging alcoholic. It took me 30 years to get that…

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James’ story

Stepping up I was born a river boy to the Ngarrindjeri Nation in the late 1970s. My mother is of the Hunter Clan, and my father is of the Kropinyeri Clan. Growing up, I was introduced to various substances, both ingestible and visual. These proved very detrimental to the shaping of a 12-year-old boy. I…

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Cailan’s story

My journey of addiction didn’t begin in the way many people perceive someone with an addiction starts. I grew up in a loving family with support, with my grandfather filling the father role in my life. So for all intents and purposes, it was a normal childhood.

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